LAHORE, July 1: Increase in petrol, diesel and gas prices was described as fuel to the fire of inflation at a post-budget seminar held at the Bakhtiar Labour Hall here on Friday. Punjab University former vice-chancellor Prof Dr Rafiq Ahmad said the government was trying to meet the huge budget deficit caused owing to squandering of funds on perks of ministers and legislators by raising prices of petrol, gas and diesel.

The people would also have to bear the burden of increase in transportation charges and prices of industrial and commercial products.

He said the government had opted for burdening masses instead of imposing a tax on multi-billion rupees property and stock exchange businesses. The government claim in respect of increase in per capita income to 736 dollars per annum seemed ridiculous when it also acceded that country’s over one-third population was living below the poverty line.

Pakistan Workers Confederation secretary-general Khurshid Ahmad said the government was pursuing a policy of making the rich the richer and the poor the poorer. It had given concessions on import of luxury cars to pamper the rich but raised the POL and gas prices without considering the hardships it would cause to the people. It claimed to have raised the per capital income to 736 dollars but had fixed the minimum wage at only Rs3,000 per month.

PWC president Talib Nawaz said the budget was aimed to providing facilities to the rich instead of solving the problems being faced by the common run of people. The army of ministers and advisors was costing the national exchequer millions of rupees every month without a return.

Hailey College of Commerce principal Prof Dr Khwaja Amjad Saeed said the government had presented a Rs1,000 billion budget against an income of only Rs634 billion. The deficit was not likely to be met only through the PTCL privatization and the government would have to seek more loans for meeting the deficit.